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home • NOV 01, 2018

Good, Bad, Right and Wrong

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21

Good and bad are both subjective. What is good for you can be bad for me. What is bad for you can be good for me. Right and wrong are objective. What is the right thing to do in a given situation? Answering that requires education, knowledge, morality and thought. This is the case because what is right must take everyone and everything into account. Good and bad are selfish. Right and wrong are holistic.

It is good to eat ice cream everyday. You feel good. You are supporting the dairy industry and that means jobs for people. But it is not good for you in the long run because you would get diabetes much earlier. If you have family responsibilities, it is also wrong to do it because your early death will affect their lives.

Sometimes people do the right thing even when it is bad for them personally. We call such an act a noble act. But more often people do the wrong thing that is good for them.

People who do the wrong thing have a subjective, in other words selfish, perspective and a short term focus.

To do the right thing you have to be objective and think of the long term.